Discrimination toward migrants during crises

Abstract

How do crises shape native attitudes towards migrants? A common threat could produce an empathy channel among natives, but the perception of competition for scarce economic resources could just as easily spark prejudice through a resentment channel. Totally, 3,400 Colombian citizens were surveyed and randomly primed to consider the economic consequences of COVID-19 before eliciting their attitudes towards Venezuelan migrants. The findings suggest that native attitudes towards migrants are substantially more suggestive of the resentment channel in the treatment group. However, respondents in the so-called impressionable years—ages 18–25—showed more altruism towards migrants after priming. Interestingly, both effects disappear in response to positive news.

Insights into the Predictors of Empathy in Virtual Reality Environments

“…An implication of this result is that future VR experiences developed to elicit empathy toward migration should consider previous attitudes toward migrants to effectively create empathy. To interpret the results, it is also important to note that this study was conducted after the COVID-19 crisis, and previous research has found that people's perceptions of a crisis (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) significantly affect their attitudes toward migrants [51].…”

“…The participants were chosen through intentional sampling, and participation was voluntary. In this study, we chose a sample of university students because previous research has shown that treatments for prosocial behaviors are more effective with people in their impressionable years (18-25 years old) [51]. Students who had experienced a personal or family migration process were excluded in order to reduce the potential biases caused by previous experiences.…”

Predictors of Engagement in Virtual Reality Storytelling Environments about Migration

“…Participants were chosen through intentional sampling, and participation was voluntary. In this study, we chose a sample of university students because previous research has shown that treatments of pro-social behaviors are more effective with people in the impressionable years (18-25 years old) [73]. Students who had experienced a personal or family migration process were excluded to reduce potential biases caused by previous experiences.…”